Woodhill blends verbatim testimony with dance theatre – how did you approach the balance between honouring the real words of families and finding a choreographic language to carry them?

 

Woodhill has been built with the families of Stephen, Kevin and Chris, all of whom died at HMP Woodhill. Their words carry the truth of what happened. Our approach was to honour that truth and bring it into the light. 

 

Alexzandra Sarmiento’s choreography works as a powerful extension of the families’ testimonies, shaping and holding the emotional weight of stories that cannot always be spoken outright. The language she’s created with movement adds layers to the family’s stories, giving form to experiences that are too painful or too familiar to articulate directly. 

 

Complementing this is Sami El-Ennany’s remarkable score. His music moves fluidly alongside the stories — at times elevating emotion beyond language, and at others settling into the quiet, giving depth and resonance to the silences.

2. The show premiered in 2023 and you’re now bringing it back in response to the prison’s continued decline. What does it feel like to return to this material knowing so little has changed – and in some ways things have got worse?

It’s incredibly difficult to come back to this work and see how little has changed. If anything, the situation at HMP Woodhill is worse than ever. The prison has now been issued an urgent notification, which only underlines the severity of what families have been saying for years. 

When we first made the show in 2023, there was a sense that bringing these stories into the open might contribute to some kind of shift. But returning now, the same questions remain, and families are still living with the consequences of a system that isn’t keeping people safe.

What began as a way of bearing witness has become something more urgent – a call for accountability. We owe it to the families at the heart of this to keep telling these stories, and to keep asking what is actually being done to change things. 

This play is touring across the nation because death in prison isn’t something that is happening at HMP Woodhill. It is happening everywhere. 

 

3. LUNG describes itself as a campaign-led arts charity – how do you navigate the dual responsibility of making compelling theatre and driving real political change, and do you ever feel tension between the two?

For us, those two things are completely intertwined because they start with people. Everything comes from the families we work with – their stories, their experiences, and what they want to see change. Making the work compelling isn’t separate from that; it’s about doing justice to what they’ve shared and making sure it’s felt.

What’s been really powerful is seeing how those stories travel. Our Woodhill families have stood up and spoken in The House of Lords – and when that happens, it cuts through. It brings real lives into spaces that can often feel a million miles away from what is happening at HMP Woodhill. You can sometimes feel the ground shift when these worlds collide. 

When platforming real stories, there is a responsibility to take that next step. Theatre opens the door. It creates a space where people can really listen. The campaign work then pushes it further, into the places where decisions are made.

As artists we have a responsibility to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people whose stories we tell and push for that change. 

4. You’re calling on Prisons Minister James Timpson and MP Emily Darlington to take specific actions. What would meaningful accountability actually look like to you and the families you’ve worked with?

For the families we work with, accountability isn’t abstract – it’s very real, and it’s long overdue. It means more than statements or acknowledgements from people in power. It means clear, visible action that actually changes conditions inside prisons so this doesn’t keep happening. No family should have to get that knock at the door.

We have meetings booked in with Lord Timpson and Emily Darlington MP, with tangible requests. For prison governors to commit to and implement the Woodhill Families Commitments with suicide prevention at their core; for urgent funding to remove ligature points in cells; for families to be meaningfully included in the decisions that affect prison safety; and for the names of men who have died at HMP Woodhill to be read in Parliament.

The loss of the families and the death of these men – who were supposed to be in the care of the state – needs to be recognised. 

5. What do you hope audiences who have no personal connection to the prison system take away from this show – and what do you want them to do after they leave the theatre?

We don’t expect audiences to come in with prior knowledge. We do hope they leave with a sense that death in custody isn’t something distant or separate from them. These are human stories about people’s sons, brothers, partners – and about families who are still living with the consequences of what’s happening inside our prisons.

If you don’t have a personal connection to the system, the starting point is simply to listen – to really sit with what’s being shared, and recognise the reality of it. But we also hope it doesn’t stop there. Our work is also about making it harder to look away.

We will also be inviting audiences to support our campaign and help us put pressure on the people who represent us. Ultimately, change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when more people understand what’s at stake – and decide that it matters enough to act.

At the same time, we want people to experience a really excellent piece of theatre. The families and the creative team have worked their socks off to bring this show to life. It’s a show that’s not just important. It’s moving, visually striking and made with so much love. What more could you ask for?

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